Y combinator CEO details high personal spending on AI agents and future vision

Garry Tan, CEO of Y Combinator, disclosed that he spends between $100,000 and $200,000 annually on tokens to power his extensive use of AI agents. Speaking to Walter Isaacson on The Builders podcast, Tan detailed using these agents for both professional tasks, such as researching the podcast, and personal management, noting they have accessed his emails, Dropbox, and even therapy notes dating back two decades. Tan shared his collection of 23 Claude Code skills, known as gstack, on GitHub to educate others on agent capabilities. He described these systems as acting like a constant, proactive assistant, capable of anticipating needs and offering foresight. Furthermore, Y Combinator itself employs an internal agent named Stray Light, which possesses a company-wide context of all founders and communications. While advocating for the mainstream adoption of personal AI, Tan stressed that the current high cost is a significant barrier, calling his expenditure a crazy privilege. He also cautioned against relying solely on Big Tech's free offerings, suggesting a future where individuals control and program their own personal AI systems.